How can I remap caps-lock to caps-lock after unmapping it?

Question

How do I remap caps-lock to caps-lock, preferably via bash? I mistakenly used the following command while in caps-lock was active:

setxkbmap -layout us -option ctrl:nocaps

I am trapped in caps-lock now. This happens to me about once every other month. I usually use the naive approach of rebooting my computer to fix this issue. I would like a better solution. I need to temporarily undo the above bash command, so that I can turn off caps-lock.

see: How do I remap the Caps Lock and Ctrl keys?

Alternative solutions:

a bash command that toggles caps lock on/off.
any other keyboard tricks that turn off caps-lock without caps-lock. I already tried the on-screen keyboard, but it contains no caps-lock key.

The Problem is persistent, even after a reboot? cat /etc/default/keyboard — nobody, Jan 19 '20 at 10:52
No, I reboot the system to resolve this issue, but that is a naive solution. I would instead like a bash command to turn caps-lock off, or a bash command to remap caps-lock to caps-lock. Thanks! — Matthaeus Gaius Caesar, Jan 24 '20 at 14:24
setxkbmap -option caps: might work, but it sporadically fails for me, will investigate later. — user202729, May 15 '22 at 05:42

score 1 · Accepted Answer · answered Jan 24 '20 at 20:44

1

From Linux Mint:

sudo apt install xdotool

Then toggle the caps lock key with this command:

xdotool key Caps_Lock

Run this command again to turn caps lock off.

answered Jan 24 '20 at 20:44

WinEunuuchs2Unix

102,282

This is one solution, but a more universal one would be one that does not require root or packages. – Matthaeus Gaius Caesar Jan 25 '20 at 21:05
Root is only required to install package one time. Do not repeat command after already installed. – WinEunuuchs2Unix Jan 25 '20 at 22:06
i DO NOT HAVE ROOT PERMISSION. i ESSENTIALLY NEED TO DO THE REVERSE OF: setxkbmap -layout us -option ctrl:nocaps – Matthaeus Gaius Caesar Mar 03 '20 at 23:40

How can I remap caps-lock to caps-lock after unmapping it?

1 Answers1